Prisoners of faith: a view from within

Most multi-ethnic societies in the world are
today experiencing a growth in assertions of
ethnic identity. This is particularly true of
developing societies where this process has
spawned a series of tensions and conflicts.
Yet, the concept of 'minority' remains little
understood. Further, most conceptualisa-
tions of what constitutes a 'minority are
products of developed societies and do not
really apply in countries such as India.
It is this which inspired Dr Nirmala
Srinivasan to study the lebenswelt of Mus-
lims and Christians which in turn deter-
mines their private-public identity orienta-
tions as members of the two largest minority
communities in India. She successfully
argues the case for conceptualising ‘minor-
ity' in terms of individual perceptions and
awareness. Further, she critically evaluates
the Eurocentric models of the term 'minor-
ity' and presents a novel attempt to synthe-
sise phenomenology and Marxism for the
study of personal identity as social structure
and process. Dr Srinivasan maintains that
the conventional wisdom of orthodox social
reflection has obviously become inadequate
and postulates an alternate approach rele-
'vant to the contemporary Indian context.
In the process, the author explodes the
myth that ‘minority' is a monolithic concept
and demonstrates the multiple definitions
underlying it. She argues, instead, that
ethnicity is a sensitising concept which con-
stitutes the social aspect of the self in the
multiple realities of everyday situations. As
such, Dr Srinivasan resurrects the indi-
vidual to the level of theory.
Cast in the tradition of the sociology of
knowledge and rich with both empirical evi-
dence and theoretical formulations, this
book will appeal to both students and schol-
ars of sociology and anthropology. Further,
it will be of interest to scholars, adminis-
trators, and policy-makers interested in
understanding the processes at work in a
multi-ethnic society such as India.